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Antares achieves zero-power criticality at INL
Leveraging more than $140 million in private capital fundraising, over 322,000 square feet of operational manufacturing space, and multifaceted partnerships with the Departments of Energy and Defense, reactor start-up Antares has become the first company involved in the Reactor Pilot Program to achieve zero-power fueled criticality—a full month ahead of the July 4 deadline set by President Trump’s Executive Order 14301.
This milestone, announced yesterday, was achieved with the company’s Mark-0: a sodium heat-pipe-cooled, TRISO-fueled microreactor. The Mark-0 is a forerunner to the company’s flagship design, which it calls the R1. For Antares, this development represents a key validation of its reactor physics, control systems, and supply chain.
M. Aggleton, S. Bhandarkar, A. Nikroo
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 79 | Number 7 | October 2023 | Pages 786-790
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2023.2194240
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Inertial confinement fusion experiments require a fuel filled target. At the National Ignition Facility (NIF), these targets are filled through a capsule fill tube assembly (CFTA). While fabricating these assemblies, it is possible to plug the fill tube with glue, which would render the CFTA and eventual target unusable. Historically, this plugging was first detectable in a finished target after considerable resources had been expended. This paper presents a method for not only detecting a plug in the fill tube before the CFTA is assembled into a target, but also characterizing gas flow through the fill tube, which can help NIF operations prepare to expend each target.